


Unto The Breach

by LittleSweetCheeks



Category: Madam Secretary
Genre: AU, Angst, Assassination, Family, Futurefic, Gen, Support
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:47:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 18,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25739035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleSweetCheeks/pseuds/LittleSweetCheeks
Summary: "It is unclear at this time whether the attempt was specifically to target the President, or to simply take out as many people as possible. We watched live a short time ago as two ambulances left the premises, no official statements have been made."
Comments: 36
Kudos: 45





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A full story based off one of the ficlets in Man To Man.

Matt was hunched over his laptop reviewing the latest edits on a show script. He was hidden away in his office for a small amount of quiet when one of his coworkers burst in.

“Turn on your TV!” Tyler shouted as he stormed through the door. “Now! Now!”

Matt fumbled through the paperwork on his desk, searching for the remote. “Why? What happened?”

“The news! You worked for President McCord before, right?”

The TV came to life as he found the right channel. “When she was Secretary, yeah.”

_“…It is unclear at this time whether the assassination attempt was made by a single actor or by members of a larger group. The condition of the President and the staffer that were both hit is still unknown, sources have said that Vice President Morejon has stepped in until the situation is made clear…”_

Matt collapsed into his chair. “My god…”

“They haven’t said who the staffer is.” Tyler shook his head. “You still know guys out there, right?”

“Yeah… I know a few of her direct staff, tons of the under-staff…”

“I’m sorry, Man.”

“I need to call Daisy.”


	2. Chapter 2

Daisy turned from where kids were listening to their teacher in the pool back to her friend Trish, her daughter was Joanna’s best friend. “I totally get it, not wanting to drop everything and move for a guy. I’ve been there.” He phone buzzed. “Hold on. Oh, it’s Matt.” She frowned. “He’s supposed to be buried under at work… Hello?”

“There was a shooting.”

“What?” She shot to her feet. “At the studio?”

“No! No! At the White House! Two people, they haven’t said who the second person was, but Elizabeth, she was shot.”

“I’ll… I’ll call you back Matt, let me see what I can dig up.”

“Yeah.”

Daisy sank back into her chair, pulling up the internet on her phone, she was instantly inundated with reports and speculation about what might have happened.

“What’s going on?”

“Oh!” She looked up at her friend, eyes wide. “The president and someone else were shot.” She groaned in frustration. “No one I trust has reported anything substantial yet!”

“A secret service agent?”

She shook her head. “If it was a member of security, I’m certain they would have said that already, but there are still hundreds of people who work there officially and more that are unofficial. Not to mention ‘staffer’ doesn’t necessarily mean White House staff, it could literally be any federal employee.” When she looked up, Trish was staring at her. “Sorry.”

“I just, you’ve never really talked about working in DC. You were close to coworkers there? Besides Matt I mean?”

She spared another glance before looking away, she had always glossed over her DC life as much as possible to avoid accusations of using it for attention. “I worked directly for President McCord when she was Secretary, and… She’s a friend.”

“You’re friends with the president?” Trish asked, surprised.

“Yeah. Her kids must be worried.” A hand landed on her arm and she looked up.

“You and Matt should go. Joanna can stay with me if you want.”

“That’d- that’d actually be good… I need to know what’s going on, I can’t just sit around and wait to hear the official line.”

“Call him and tell him. Keep me updated.”


	3. Chapter 3

The dance class was wrapping up, everyone was just gathering their things, and as he did every day, the instructor headed for the TV hung in the corner of the room and flicked it on.

_“…Updated reports are that the gunman was part of a fringe group of nationalists. The shooting took place this morning during the signing of the new refugee legislation which was held on the grounds of the White House. It is unclear at this time whether the attempt was specifically to target the President, or to simply take out as many people as possible. We watched live a short time ago as two ambulances left the premises, no official statements have been made as to who the second victim was though some speculation...”_ The screen cut from the newscaster to a clip showing as she’d said- two ambulances pulling through the security gates leaving the White House.

The studio was nearly silent as everyone watched the screen; Nadine’s mind though was running full tilt. _The president had been shot! Someone had shot her friend!_ Gathering her things as fast as she could, she rushed to Roman’s house, it was much closer than her own, letting herself in.

“Mom?” He greeted her, rushed. “I just saw on the news-”

“I know. Look, I’m sorry, I need to go to DC.” Her eyes pled with him to understand. “I know I promised to help with Kayla later, but I have to go.”

“Yeah, go. Wait!” He stopped her. “I’ll drive you to the airport.”

She gave him a weak smile of gratitude. “I’d appreciate that.”

Nadine ended up using a few old connections to bypass standby, with news of the assassination attempt the single headline at the moment, plus a bit of her old bravado and DNFW demeanor, it hadn’t taken long to be seated on the next cross-country plane. She had no idea what she would do once she landed… but thinking on her feet had always been one of her strong suits.


	4. Chapter 4

Jay rushed into Blake’s office, folders tucked under his arm, per usual, Blake and Mike were in the middle of a heated argument. “What’s the prob- You know what, I don’t even have time today. Look, if you two don’t figure this out between you once and for all, Elizabeth is going to have to pick sides and let one of you go, please don’t make her do that.” He shook his head. “Grab your things and let’s go.” He waved toward the door. “Henry’s bringing her along in a minute, we need to get in our places.”

“She’ll choose me over him.” Mike declared as he stepped into the hall.

“I wouldn’t be so sure.” Blake shot back, certain of his status.

“Guys!” Jay pushed his way between them. “I will fire you both before we even get to the door if you don’t cool it!” He looked between the two men. “Now. Places.”

“Why do I have to stand way over here?”

Jay rolled his eyes. “Because that’s how it works.”

“But he gets to be over there.”

“Will you just plug it and look official, so you don’t create an incident.” He waited for a nod of agreement before moving to place the folders on the podium.


	5. Chapter 5

There were a few truths in Russell’s life, one of them being that his wife didn’t panic about… anything. Even after his heart attack, she’d been worried, angry, a host of other things, but never panicked. It simply wasn’t her nature. It was what made her a damned good surgeon. So, to see her nearly running across their lawn, his phone, of all things, in her hand, and shouting his name. Well, Russell surmised that the only possible explanation was that the world was ending.

“You have to get changed! Now!” She demanded. “You have to go! They’re going to need you in one way or another!”

“What the hell’s going on?!” Confusion filled his words.

“Elizabeth was shot.” She handed him his phone. “You’re going to need this.”

“What?”

“It’s on the news. I don’t even know the details, but she and someone else were shot. I’m not just giving you permission here, Russell, I’m telling you, you have to go!”

He nearly fell getting out of the hammock. “Did they say who else?”

“No, does it matter?”

“I can’t just waltz in anymore; I need a contact to get me through.”

“Head to the hospital, you’re telling me there won’t be one Secret Service who will know who you are?” She urged. “Hurry up!”

Russell had never been much of a runner in his entire life, but he found himself giving it a try.


	6. Chapter 6

Henry let himself into the Oval. “Hey, Babe, about ready?”

“Yeah.” Elizabeth looked around her desk. “I think everything’s out there already.” She picked up her glasses and walked around her desk, looking around for any of her staff. “Is everyone else already outside?”

He chuckled. “Just waiting on you. Jay had the folders and I think Mike was wrangling the Prime Minister.” He offered his hand and then walked with her through the building and out the back. It was such a beautiful day it had been decided to hold the signing out in the gardens. When they got to the French doors that led out, he gave her another kiss. “I’ll be right here.” Several years of these photo ops and Henry accepted that he really didn’t have to attend them, no one expected him to, so much of the time he simply waited in the wings. He watched as Elizabeth stepped through the door as the Secret Service agent held it open.

==

Daisy paced as she and Matt waited for their plane to begin boarding. So far, no updates had been made on the shooting. “This is crazy!” She clenched her fists. “I can’t get through to anyone!”

“It’s understandable…” He started, only to cut off when she leveled a glare at him. “Hey.” He tried to soothe. “Take a breath. We’re going there to see for ourselves. In a few hours, we’ll have answers.” He caught her hand and tugged her into a chair. “Who’ve you tried?”

“Jay, Blake, the kids. A few of my contacts with the press. Everyone either isn’t answering or doesn’t know.”

“Mike B?”

“Didn’t answer.” She shook her head.

“Russell?”

She scoffed. “Carol won’t let him within a five-mile radius of politics.”

“This might be different. Try him.”

= =

Staring out at the clouds, Nadine rolled the phone call she’d made from the airport over in her mind. She had tried to think of the best person to call- any of the McCords would be too busy to be disturbed now, and there was no way she was getting through the White House switchboards. She hadn’t caught who was injured, but by now, there would have been too many changes in staff for her to really know who would be the most well informed. Figuring there was one man on the outside who no doubt still had his thumb on the pulse of DC, she had pressed a contact she hadn’t spoken to in years.

_“Russell? It’s Nadine Tolliver.”_ She’d been able to tell instantly he remembered who she was.

_“Nadine…”_ His signature heavy sign had sounded down the line. _“I take it you heard.”_

_“I’m about to board a plane to DC.”_

_“Good. Call me when you land.”_

When the plane did finally land, she rushed through the airport, already confirming a rideshare as she moved. It wasn’t her top choice in getting around the city, but it would have to do for now. She found her phone again and dialed. “Russell. I’m in DC now.”

“Good. I’m at the hospital, spoke for a second to someone, but for now things have to be classified and neither of us are in a location for that.” She could hear the sadness in his voice. “I’ll meet you when you get here.”

“Okay. Wait, Russell?”

“Yeah?”

“The family?”

“Alison lives in Europe, Jason is in… New York I think, but he was on a trip to Australia. Stevie and Dimitri keep checking in by phone, they didn’t want to drag the kids here. It’s a lot of chaos and all the security.”

“I’ll be there soon.” She disconnected the call, _two chiefs of staff_ , she intentionally mis-thought the quote, _were better than one, after all._

= =

As the door closed, Henry turned and took a seat on the couch nearby to wait. He could barely make out the drone of press secretary who was speaking first, the crowd’s noise settled, and then he could just make out Elizabeth talking. A smile came to his lips. He loved to hear her speak, she was so confident, elegant.

He’d pulled out his phone to check emails when an odd sound thumped against the wall. His brows knit together as he tried to work it out, something had hit the side of the building, perhaps a piece of equipment. Henry had almost disregarded it when the attendees outside erupted into screams and shouts, causing him to leap to his feet.

Through the window he saw people running everywhere, Secret Service were rushing the platform and moving out of view, he couldn’t see anyone who worked directly with his wife. Henry ran for the door, only to have another agent shove him back. “What’s happening?” He demanded. “I need to get to my wife!”

“Bluebird has been secured, Sir.”

“Where is she? Is she alright?” Secured didn’t mean unharmed.

The agent listened in his earpiece before responding. “She’s been shot, ambulance has already been dispatched. This way.” He led Henry along the hall to where the garden had opened into the next room. Elizabeth was laid out on the floor with White House medics already looking her over. She was arguing about something, when brought relief through Henry’s body.

“Babe!” He rushed to her side. One arm was a mess and bleeding heavily.

“Henry!” She grabbed his hand with her good one, leaving bloody patches on him from where she’d pressed against the wound. “He saved my life.” She spoke through ground teeth.

He was about to ask who she meant until he glanced up and spotted him, currently ignored by everyone else in the room, slumped in a chair and his eyes shut, a bloodstain rapidly grown on his shirt.

= =

Matt grabbed their carry-ons and rushed through the airport as Daisy dialed her phone. They hadn’t managed to get through to anyone before the plane took off, the ride had been filled with both of them anxiously counting the minutes till they’d land. When Daisy halted, a hand to her other ear to block out noise, he realized she’d finally reached someone.

“It’s Daisy Grant.” Matt gave her a curious look and she mouthed ‘Russell’, he nodded in understanding. “Matt and I just landed at the airport… No, no, we’re in the airport now… What?” Her eyes instantly began to scan the crowds. “No, yeah, we’ll try and find her.” She hung up.

“What?”

“Nadine just landed too. Russell said she was getting a rideshare, but he didn’t know if she’d left yet.”

“This way.” Matt veered them right, remembering exactly where the pickup area was. “You see her?”

“No.” Daisy tried to look at everyone plus not trip at the same time. “Shit, we might have missed her.”

“We could just shout and see if anyone reacts.” He half-joked.

She made an incredulous face at him. “Really?”

“How many Nadine’s do you think there are in here? It’s not like shouting Matt.”

She was desperate at this point though. “You know what, give it a shot, but only once.”

Looking to opposite way from Daisy, he shouted once and then he saw it. Just outside the open automatic doors, someone’s head popped up. “There! Out there!” He rushed through the crowd and found himself face to face with his former boss. “Nadine!” He couldn’t help himself as he dropped the bags and swept her up in a hug.

“Matt!” She exclaimed when her feet left the ground.

“Russell said you were just coming out, we just landed as well.” He backed away, a grin that felt highly inappropriate for the reason they were all there on his face as she greeted Daisy much more calmly. “I’m guessing then that you know what we know.”

“I haven’t been able to reach anyone.” Daisy gave a rundown. “I’m not sure if that means it’s someone we know or they’re just all busy.”

“Russell knows something but said it couldn’t be shared over the phone.” When her car pulled up, she explained the situation to the driver who agreed to the two extra passengers. “Once more.” She held the door open for them.

“Unto the breach.” Matt finished.


	7. Chapter 7

Russell paced the hospital lobby, phone in hand and head down just like old times. He heard his name called and looked up to see three familiar faces rushing toward him. He put up a hand to halt any questions. “This way.” He pulled them into a side room and shut the door. “They’re keeping a tight lid on this for now. Elizabeth’s going to be fine, she got shot in the arm and has some bumps and bruises from being taken to the ground, but she’ll be fine. Worse than that, actually, and this is the bit that can’t get out, is that the whole thing, having someone take her down, all of it, brought her PTSD back to the forefront and Henry and the doctors decided it would be best for her to be sedated for a bit.” He sucked in a breath. “Or until they have better news to share.”

“News?” Nadine asked. “What aren’t you saying?”

He shook his head, glancing to Daisy. “According to the staffers that have been interviewed so far, everything was fine, Bess was speaking and, for whatever reason, moved from her spot at the podium, maybe to look at someone off to the side of the platform, they’re not sure. That’s when the first shot happened, because she moved, it hit the building instead. The press secretary said he wasn’t standing where she told him to, he should have been another ten feet away with the other two, instead he was within arm’s reach, no idea what compelled him to break protocol.” He sighed, rubbing his face. “It seems maybe he registered the first shot and lunged forward, shoving her to the ground. That’s when she took the hit to the arm but… He got shot in the side.”

= =

Henry sat by his wife’s bedside with his head in his hands. The doctors had demanded doing a full workup, which had taken several hours already, but then as the immediate stress of what had happened started to ease, he’d watched Elizabeth start to succumb to her triggers, which scared him. He couldn’t blame her, he figured if he was in the same position, it would break him a little as well. The agreement with the doctors had then been a mild sedative to help her rest, with the added perk than maybe, just maybe, by the time she woke, there would be positive news to share.

In the hours since the shots, he’d touched base with the kids regularly to keep them updated, plus had spoken to his own staff. Any of her staff, he knew, were much too busy trying to manage the crisis, or too distraught by it, for him to try and reach. He figured by now there was a full task force looking into the shooting.

A light knock on the door brought his attention back to the room and he turned to see who it was, surprised. “Nadine.”

“Mind if we come in?” She offered a sad smile as Matt and Daisy appeared at her side. “Russell told us where to come.” Her eyes cut to the bed. “He got us past all the security.”

“She’s resting, but she’ll be fine.” He pulled the other chair to the bedside. “I thought you all were in California.”

“We are. As soon as it hit the news, I got on a plane. Ran into these two once I landed.” Nadine replied. “I still have connections.” Her eyes lifted to meet his again. “What the hell happened?”

He sighed. “A group wanting to be the next new nationalist group found access to a roof with sight to the garden, they weren’t highly trained.”

She sat back as that sank in. “Wow.”

“I can’t believe it.” Matt spoke from where he stood in the corner. “It’s hard to imagine anyone wanting to kill her, maybe I just know her too well.”

“Yeah, I don’t think president when I think about her…” Daisy nodded. “I think of her goofing off with Joanna.”

“Having that extra glass of wine.” Nadine couldn’t help adding with sad fondness.

“Totally missing all the best jokes.” Matt joined in again. A thought struck him, and when he looked back at the other two, he could see it hitting them as well- Elizabeth was lying in a hospital bed… “Where is Blake?” They all turned and watched Henry frown.

“… It’s touch and go.”


	8. Chapter 8

Jay flopped down in his chair and let his head fall back. It was going to be a day that never ended, an assassination attempt on the president, not something they ever wanted to have to deal with. Picking up his phone, he debated. Normally, he and Blake worked together when it came to information exchanges, but now it was all on him. Deciding, he called the person who could always tell him how to start.

“Hey Russell.”

“Jay! How are you holding up?”

“I think I’m still standing. Well, sitting.”

“Nadine, Matt, and Daisy are at the hospital with the McCords.”

That made him sit up again. “Really?”

“Yeah. Just got there. They got on the first plane they could, and all ended up arriving at the same time.”

“That’s… that’s good.” He let out a heavy breath. “Can you tell them to call me?”

“Will do. I’ve gotten temporary permission from Carol to help you out if you need anything so just call.”

“Okay. Right now it’s a bit… calm? The rest of the world seems to be hesitating. Secretary Thompson has her team staying on top of the global stage and the US seems to still be reeling. I’m hoping to have Elizabeth ready for an on-camera before everyone has time to react.”

“We can hope.”

“Tell everyone to call me as soon as they can. A reunion sounds great, I just wish it weren’t under these circumstances.”

“Yeah.” He hung up.

= =

Mike sat in a hall in the West Wing and stared into space, playing the day over in his mind. He’d been so angry that morning at Blake, they’d been arguing over how to present some information to Elizabeth, Blake had insisted they needed more details first, when Jay had hauled them out of Blake’s office. When Blake then stormed across the platform to get away from him, he’d turned to rant at the Chief of Staff, only to be shut down again.

_“Mike, you have to get over yourself and let this thing between the two of you go.” Jay shook his head. “Blake’s right, if you make her choose, you’ll be out the door before you can make another complaint.”_

_“I’m her closest advisor! And a longtime friend, if you remember.” He jabbed himself in the chest._

_Jay rolled his eyes and dropped his head backward a moment “A friend, yes, but Blake’s her family. And she will choose family over anything else every time. As much as you think of yourself, she would rather step down and go back to living on the farm than to work without him here. You won’t win.”_

Their conversation had ended as the press secretary had taken the podium and begun to speak. Mike never really listened to her, instead he kept an eye out for anyone not reacting like he expected, always with one eye on someone who might stir up trouble. He watched as Elizabeth stepped up, glancing their way as she always did, except this time her smile had faltered slightly, making Mike frown. Her speech started, he was looking right at her now, and at Blake on the far side, so he couldn’t help but notice when she realized her assistant was there after all and her face lit up. He’d thought that perhaps Jay was right after all.

He sighed and sagged back in the chair; he’d only had a moment to realize his thought before all hell had broken loose. A sound made himself and everyone else seem to freeze a moment, unsure, and then before his eyes Blake was throwing himself forward as Jay was already shoving him toward the building. It had taken him until they’d made it to safety to realize they’d been dodging bullets.

_“What the hell?!”_

_Jay was panting. “We’re fine, we need to figure out what’s going on.”_

_“Where’s Bess?” He tried to force he way through the growing crowd._

_“Secret Service will have her, you’ll be in the way. Come on, Man, we have to start working.” Jay grabbed his arm._

_“Wait! Just wait!” He got free and rushed toward the urgent shouting of security. “Is she okay?” No one was paying him any attention, though. “Is she hit?!” He could feel that Jay had given up and was at his shoulder._

_“Bluebird is secured.” One of the agents answered._

_“But is she okay?” Jay demanded, knowing he would get a faster answer as the Chief of Staff._

_“Hit in the arm, we’re getting the ambulance to take her to the hospital.” His words were cut off by something being said in his ear. “We have a second critically wounded.”_

_“Who?” Jay pressed again._

_“Jay!” When Jay whirled around, Mike pointed through the doorway. “Is he…” He couldn’t bear to say the word._

_“No. He can’t be.” When Jay rushed the room, Mike followed. Medical personnel were hauling Blake’s lifeless body to the floor, cutting him free of his suit to expose the wound in his side, blood seeping out._

Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Blake’s body on the floor. His limp, lifeless body. All the while, Jay’s words echoed along with the images ‘ _she would rather step down and go back to living on the farm than to work without him here’_. Mike had never held too much stock in the power of prayer, but today, he was willing to give it a try.

==

Elizabeth’s first though was that her arm was simply throbbing with pain. Slowly, the memory of _why_ came back to her and she gasped. A small hand rested on her other arm.

“Ma- Elizabeth, relax. Being tense only makes the pain worse.”

The soft voice registered as she carefully took a breath and then cracked her eyes up to be sure. “Nadine?”

The other woman gave a fond grin.

“You almost called me Ma’am.” The humor made her try and grin despite the radiating pain. “Or worse.”

“Old habits die hard sometimes I guess.” She squeezed her hand. “How are you?”

“My arm is killing me.” She hissed against the throb. “I think I’ll have a few bruises from hitting the ground.”

“I heard Blake tackled you.” She watched Elizabeth’s face fall. “Henry went to get an update.”

“I can’t believe he threw himself over me.”

“Well, he’s got a soft spot for you at least as big as yours is for him.”

“Mine didn’t nearly kill me.”

“I could see you doing the same.” A different voice spoke, making Elizabeth pry her eyes open again, searching.

“Matt… Daisy…”

“We came as soon as news broke.” Daisy joined the conversation. “We’re all glad to see you’ll be okay.”

It was then that Henry returned. “Blake’s out of surgery.”


	9. Chapter 9

“I’m pretty sure Secret Service is getting annoyed about the amount of people you’re declaring necessary unofficial advisors, Bess.” Russell began as he entered her hospital room. “How are you holding up?” He’d intentionally waited until the others had been sent away before visiting.

“Ready to get out of here. I’m fine, they patched me up and everything.” She was sitting on the edge of the bed, feet hanging over, one arm was in a sing. “There’s no reason to keep me.”

“You mean besides you being the president and maybe a little important to the running of this country?” He held his hands out, surely that was obvious. Studying the woman he reluctantly acknowledged was his friend after all these years, he dropped his head forward a moment and then turned, shutting the door, before dragging a chair over so he could sit right in front of her and hold her hands. “Talk.”

She looked at him warily.

“This isn’t about the hole in your arm, this is about the massively traumatic thing that happened this morning. It hit every single one of your triggers, and maybe made a few new ones; so, who better than me? I get it, remember? And I know what you’re made of already.”

Elizabeth frowned and stared down at their joined hands. “I was running behind.”

He couldn’t help a smirk. “So, running on your usual time.” Her failure to be punctual had always been a bit of a joke amongst the close staff.

“Henry walked me out, Jay and Mike were on the far side, I think they were arguing? Or maybe Jay was mad because Mike and Blake had been arguing all morning. Those two, I swear...” She trailed off and then restarted. “Blake was…no.” She shook her head. “I didn’t see him when I went out. He should have been with them, but he wasn’t there.”

“He wasn’t there?” That surprised Russell, he’s known for years that the younger man took his job seriously, but it wasn’t until his time as Bess’s temporary Chief of Staff that he realized just how committed he was.

“I started my remarks and then realized he was on the other side of me, he’d been hidden behind a pillar, so I didn’t see him when I walked out.”

“Okay.” He nodded slowly.

“It threw me off, I think? Having them separated, I sort of remember wondering what the problem was. Those three make up for all my kids leaving home.” She chewed her lip. “I don’t remember much after that, it’s in pieces. There was a noise behind me, and I vaguely remember a pop or popping maybe? Then this weight slamming into me and holding me down.” She looked up at Russell. “I didn’t know who it was at first, then he told me to stay down and I-” Her voice broke. “Agents surrounded us and hauled me inside, as far as I can remember, he was talking and walking as we went in but then it’s all a blur.”

“Promise me you won’t bottle this all up. Let Henry take care of you, let the others check on you. They know you, remember that.” He gave her hands a squeeze and then stood. “Now, how about we go see Blake?”

Her frown deepened. “I asked, they said it was too much to get me up there.” She waved at the detail in the hall. “I don’t have the mental energy right now to strongarm them into letting me do what I want.”

“Well, it’s a good thing I’m here now, then, isn’t it?” He smiled. “What are friends for?”

She eyed him. “Are you sure I’m not dying?”

==

The first person Elizabeth saw as they approached the room, was Trevor staring in through the window. “Hey.”

Trevor looked up, startled. “Hi.” He swallowed hard to keep from crying.

“How is he?”

“Uh, holding his own? There are so many tubes and wires and… I never imagined this.”

“No one does.” She used her good hand to reach out for him.

“He always tells me, he’s a nobody, he is under the radar so he’s safe. If he’s out in any kind of official capacity, he’s with you and has agents and armored vehicles and things. What if this is it?” He turned to Elizabeth, tears in his eyes.

“He’s a fighter.” She drew a ragged breath. “He’s one of the toughest guys I know.”

Trevor snorted. “The guy who sings showtunes and whines about messes?” He attempted to joke.

“I was thinking the guy who hasn’t been afraid of a world leader in a decade, and the one who has always put others ahead of himself. Do you mind if I go in and see him? I can’t stay, but I’d like to…” She trailed off.

“Yeah.” Trevor agreed. “Whatever time you want. Best case scenario is we won’t be going home anytime soon.”

She gave him a careful hug before entering Blake’s room and taking a seat. He was ashen and so very still. Gripping his hand in hers, she wasn’t sure how or where to start. “I want to demand why did you do it, Blake? Why the hell would you risk doing this to your family? For what? A sense of duty? Your life has never been worth less than mine, we’ve…” She broke off, sucking in a breath. “We’ve talked about this before.” She found herself squeezing his hand harder as her voice went raspy. “What will we tell your son? Huh? Hearing stories about how wonderful your parent was is a far cry from having them there to raise you.” She sniffled. “I forbid you from making anything less than a full recovery.”

The door opened and closed and then she felt Henry’s hands on her shoulders. “How is he, Babe?”

“Sleeping.” She whispered. “He’s sleeping.” Leaning back, she looked up at her husband. “Make him wake up.”

“I’ve already had talks with God and every saint I could think of.” His answer brought an almost-smile to her face for a split second. “You need your rest too, Babe. We need to get you back.”

“But he’s…”

“He has Trevor.” He bent and pressed a kiss into her hair. “Nadine’s going to be up here shortly to help him with whatever he needs. Matt and Daisy have found themselves ways to help too, come on.” He tugged her up, nodding to Russell and Trevor as he led his wife down the hall.

==

Awareness started with beeping. A steady, soft, _blip, blip, blip_.

The next thing he was aware of was the uncomfortable feeling of something caught in his throat, he tried to cough but couldn’t.

Something warm curled around one hand, his eyebrows twitched as he tried to figure it out, it was hazy and didn’t make any sense.

A soft hum of some other sound occasionally nudged at his mind, like a tune that somewhere he knew the words to but couldn’t place. The effort to work it out was too much and he let the blackness wash back over him.

Pain.

His whole body felt on fire and he arched, the blackness still filled his mind even as more sounds attempted to press in. More warmth against his skin, pressing him back into the blackness.


	10. Chapter 10

Nadine stood in the kitchen, staring into space as a mug of coffee cooled in her hand. It had been nearly two weeks since she’d climbed onto a plane back to DC. The McCords had kept their Georgetown home and had offered it to herself and the other two to stay in while they were in town. From where she stood, she could hear Matt in the office _at Elizabeth’s desk_ , her mind supplied, working remotely as he did most of every day. Neither he nor Daisy had wanted to go back west until Blake’s condition was determined one way or the other; Daisy had gone back to collect her daughter. Occasionally, they visited with Trevor, but more often they found little ways to help the McCords or Morans with the little things that often got forgotten in the wake of a tragedy.

“Hey.” Daisy sighed as she came down the stairs. “It’s weird being here.”

“Yes.” Nadine agreed, she’d only ever been in the house a few times.

“Jay’s going to come by tonight. Kat Sandoval texted me, she lands back in DC today.”

“Invite her too, it’ll be like old times.” While she’d never worked directly with the woman, she’d heard through both Blake and Elizabeth how much she’d done with them.

Daisy picked up on the heartbreak in her voice. “He’ll pull through.”

“I never…” Her voice caught. “Part of me wants to shake him and yell and ask what he was thinking.” She pressed her fingers to her lips to stave off tears.

“I know.” After a few minutes of silence, Daisy backed out of the room and found a place to make some calls.

Alone, Nadine sucked in a shuddered breath. There had been close calls before, but never had anyone been left in limbo this long. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could handle the wait.

= =

The house still maintained security, so Henry had argued that there wasn’t really a good reason why Elizabeth couldn’t spend some time there with her former staff. Stevie had dropped by Chinese and collected Joanna so it could be an adults evening. Once everyone had found a seat around the table and began to eat, the conversation slipped into reminiscing and telling stories. As the evening wore on, those stories shifted to Blake.

“Do you remember…” Elizabeth started; her feet were curled into her chair. “When I had Blake investigate you, Nadine?” Her eyes found her former chief of staff’s.

Nadine nodded.

“I asked him… I asked him back then if I could trust him.” She paused. “It keeps popping in my mind since the shooting. Before I started the investigation, I asked him, and his automatic answer was that I could trust him with my life.” She swirled her drink in her glass absently. “I’d forgotten all these years that he’d said that.” It took a minute for her to notice her comment brought the mood down, so she drew a breath. “Sorry. Someone tell a happy Blake story.”

They all exchanged looks, sharing stories felt a bit too much like their friend was already gone instead of still holding on in the hospital. Nadine raised a finger. “I have one.” A smile ghosted across her face. “I discovered one night that Blake liked to go ballroom dancing.” The smile settled. “He and I went out for drinks every few weeks, usually somewhere with karaoke or at least a piano we could play. He’d gotten into a slightly heated battle with another amateur performer and patrons were buying him drinks left, right, and center. Finally, he came stumbling over to me with this huge, goofy grin and pulled me up out of my chair and we…” She laughed. “Started ballroom dancing right there. The next time we went out, we found a place to actually dance.” She glanced up to see everyone gaping at her.

Elizabeth spoke first. “I never knew that. Any of that.”

“It was sort of our thing to battle the job.” She shrugged as if it’d been nothing, at the time it’d been a particularly important way they shored one another up to keep getting back into the fight.

Jay tapped his hand on the table. “When Chloe was a baby, she was really colicky for a while. We’d been working nonstop on a trade agreement and Abby had been having a hard time after having the baby. I’d stayed for hours after work trying to fit the pieces together, Blake’d been helping and I’d told him about Chloe. When the daycare closed one evening, I brought her back upstairs. I was kind of used to the crying, then it stopped. I go looking and Blake’s rocking her and singing to her.” He sighed. “It turned out, as Chloe got older, that he was a pretty awesome babysitter.”

Daisy smiled. “He helped with Joanna too. If I’d have to come in when DiploTots was closed, he’d wear her in the carrier. Like it was totally normal.” She shook her head. “Russell came through once and was totally speechless; there was Blake in his suit and everything like normal, Joanna on his chest, and he was just carrying on running around and doing his thing like she wasn’t there.”

“He rocked at trivia nights.” Matt added. “Was pretty good at archery too.” That startled everyone. “Apparently archery was something he did as a ‘resume builder’. Weird, but the guy had excellent aim.”

“It didn’t translate to a gun though.” Jay chuckled. “Too much kickback I think.”

“He was a good wingman though.” Matt pointed out. “I mean, if you could get the girls to stop fawning over him long enough.” He chuckled. “Every girl wanted to kiss him.”

“And a select few did. I mean, I was kinda surprised the thing with Stevie fizzled so quickly.” When the table went silent, Jay looked up and around, his eyes landing on Elizabeth. “Oh… You didn’t know about…?” She simply shook her head. “Crap. Now if he survives, you’re going to need a new Chief of Staff because he’s going to kill me.”

Nadine asked first. “What do you mean ‘the thing with Stevie’? I’m sorry, you’ve opened the can of worms and we’re all telling stories he’ll hate anyway.”

“I didn’t get specifics but they went out for drinks and then there was, you know, kissing and… by the time I heard about it, they’d had some overnights together that I very specifically did not get the details of.” He glanced at Elizabeth who still looked equal parts shocked and amused. “For a few months they did dinner or drinks quite a bit, but like I said, then it fizzled and they both seemed to move on.” He finished his drink and grabbed the bottle to refill his glass. “Now someone else please share so I’m not the only one in trouble here.” He laughed.

= =

Late into the night, Jay and Kat headed to their homes and Matt and Daisy headed upstairs, leaving Nadine on the couch with a glass of wine in her hand. Elizabeth eventually joined her, her own glass in her hand. Nadine looked up as she sat. “I would have thought Secret Service would be demanding your return by now.”

“Oh, they are. But I think as long as Blake isn’t at least awake, they are giving me some breathing room.” She sighed. “You went today?”

She gave a slow nod. “I suppose a benefit of retirement is I can do these long vigils. They’re talking about weaning Blake’s sedation so he’ll start waking up. He hasn’t had any signs of infection which was the biggest worry. Even still, this is going to be months of painful recovery.”

“I know.” Elizabeth drew in a shuddered breath. “I already have someone else on his desk, they’re happy to be permanent. It’s someone Blake had a hand in training. It won’t be the same, but I refuse to make him feel obligated to come back.”

Nadine understood, Elizabeth’s first worry was and would always be Blake’s health. “I would be willing to put money on the first thing he asks about when he comes around is you.” She sipped her wine. “If he wants to go back, I think you should let him.”

She stared at Nadine a minute. “If he doesn’t, I won’t run for a second term.”

Just hearing it broke Nadine’s heart, but she understood. “He’s been your body man since you came to Washington.”

“Yeah.” She went quiet for a bit. “We were going to carry on after, too. Mike has already hinted at what to do with my legacy, Blake wanted to write a book, with Henry’s help.”

“Really?” The surprised her.

“Yeah.” She absently picked at invisible fluff on the couch. “I need him to wake up.” Her voice cracked.


	11. Chapter 11

The conversation with Elizabeth was still looping through Nadine’s mind as she stood by Blake’s bedside days later as the medical staff waited for him to come around, they’d assured her and Trevor that it would be any time now. When his hand twitched, Nadine took it in hers. “Blake.” She called. “We need you to wake up, Blake.” Hopeful that it would rouse him, she brushed his hair off his forehead. Eventually, his eyes opened a slit, she turned to Trevor. “He’s coming around.”

“Hey, wake up for us.” He encouraged from his spot sitting on the other side of the bed. “You can do it.”

The slits widened slightly; Nadine sat slightly on the edge of the bed so they both were more at eye level, so he didn’t have to move his head. She caught when he focused, and she gave him a smile. “There you are.”

Trevor started to say something but was overwhelmed with emotion and could only smile as tears gathered in his eyes. Nadine reached out and squeezed his hands to try and comfort him. She and Blake’s husband had gotten to know one another over the past weeks.

“You had a breathing tube for a while, so talking may be uncomfortable, but we’d love to hear you try.”

Blake drew a few attempted breaths before he tried. “Na-ine.”

She smiled at his attempt. “That’s good.” She gave his hand a squeeze. “Do you remember anything about what happened?”

His eyes clouded a moment and then cleared again. “Eliz-?”

“She’s okay. She’s back to work already, because of you she only got hit in the arm.”

He nodded. “Good.” He forced out against the ache.

“Jacob misses you.” Trevor finally spoke. “Stevie’s been bringing her kids around to entertain him, but he knows you’re gone.” The mention of their infant son made Blake try to smile. “Lot’s of people have been waiting for you to wake up.”

Blake’s eyes bounced between them, asking.

“I’ve been staying at the Georgetown house with Matt and Daisy and her daughter. They’ve been working remotely and Joanna’s off school. Carol has even let Russell check in every day.” She pulled her phone out. “They will all wait until you’re ready for them, but there is one person who wanted to know as soon as you were awake. Are you up for a couple minutes of attention?”

It took him a second, but he nodded.

Tapping the screen, she waited for the video to connect.

“Hey, Nadine.” Elizabeth greeted. “It’s a bit busy, what’s up?”

From the angle, Nadine guessed she was looking at a wall of the Oval Office. “I have someone for you. Hold on.” She stood and turned, putting herself next to Blake against the pillows so Elizabeth and Blake would be able to see each other. “Look who woke up.”

Elizabeth’s scream of joy made she and Trevor laugh, then she was on the move, the video bouncing around as her voice echoed further away. When the shot came back into focus again, it was in a different office, Elizabeth was leaned on a chair against Jay who looked startled at the intrusion. “Jay, look!”

“What- Blake!” He exclaimed.

A soft sound made Nadine push upright and turn, there were tears starting to pool in the corners of Blake’s eyes. “I’m sorry it’s short, but I think that’s been more than enough for now.” She told the pair. “Give me a second.” Turning the phone so she was out of view, she rounded the bed and spoke to Trevor, leaving them alone as she made her way to the hall and then into the family room.

“How is he?” Elizabeth asked apprehensively when Nadine reappeared on the screen.

“Alive.” She couldn’t help the smile playing on her lips. “I think I’ll work on some videos before I leave, then everyone can see him without overwhelming him.” She focused on the camera. “I was right, almost immediately he asked about you.”

Elizabeth ducked her head. “Maybe we can make encouraging videos for him.” She skirted the comment. “I so bad want to be there.”

“I’ll make sure he knows that. I’m leaving other visits up to he and Trevor, he’s been gracious in letting me come every day, but now it should be them.”

“How’s Trevor doing?” She knew he’d really taken to Nadine, no surprise really.

“I think having the baby to go home to has helped a bit? I’ve tried to reassure him that we’ll all get through this together and he’s not alone.”

“That’s… good.” Elizabeth frowned. “I might have said recently that I wish I didn’t have this job anymore too loud because Carlos turned up and made me swear not to resign. This just sucks, you know?”

Nadine was familiar with her friend’s lament over being restricted to the White House. “I know. And Blake knows too.” _Probably better than anyone_ she mused. “Let me get back in there and see how things are going, maybe I can stop by tonight?”

“That’d be nice. Hey, how are Matt and Daisy doing?”

“Hanging in there. I’ll let them know the news in a bit.” They said their goodbyes and Nadine headed back to the room, listening as Trevor shared things that had happened over the last two weeks. “Still awake?” She asked.

“I don’t want to shut my eyes.” Blake’s voice was still choppy, but already miles better than it had been. “How’s everyone?”

“Doing the best they can.” She tried to offer him a smile. “Matt and Daisy refused to go back until they knew you would be okay and Jay has been busy with work. He told me recently that without you, Mike has now started arguing with him.”

He attempted a chuckle but then groaned in pain.

“I’m going to leave for a few hours and let you two catch up, but I was wondering if we could just make a video or two so I can share? I don’t want everyone to rush in and overwhelm you, you still have a lot of healing to do.”

==

Somehow, it was still over two hours before Nadine managed to make it out to curb where Russell was waiting to give her a ride to the house, he’d insisted after she’d texted him the news. Sinking into the seat, she felt all the emotions rushing forward at once. “I really didn’t think he’d wake up.” She choked out.

Russell reached across and took her hand. “But he did.” When he drew a breath, she could hear the tears hiding in it. “And now we get him well. All these years, we can’t lose one of our own now. Not like this.”

“After I talk to Daisy and Matt, would you be willing to drive me over to the White House?”

“Of course.”

==

As Nadine left, Matt crossed the room and pulled Daisy into his arms. “He’s going to be okay.”

“I didn’t want to let myself get hopeful.”

“I know.”

Tears started in her eyes. “My god, Matt, Blake almost died!” A sob escaped and she wrapped her arms around him. “This world is all messed up.”

“I know it is.” He rubbed her back, simply holding her as she cried for a bit. When she started to calm, he pulled back just enough to see her face. “Do you ever… Do you ever regret it? Any of it?”

“Any of what?”

Matt shrugged. “Taking the State job, leaving State for the campaign, literally any of it.” He tugged her toward a couch. “Some nights I think, if I’d never came to DC I wouldn’t know any of you, wouldn’t know Blake, and so I wouldn’t be hurting for him now. But then I made so many friends, we did so much _good_.”

“Slayed dragons?”

“Yes. We slayed dragons. We broke rules and we changed the world, but… Is that worth losing so many people? Was it worth this?”

“I think… There have been individual days I’ve regretted. Things I’ve said or done, but no, overall I’m thankful we all got to do what we did. And honestly? It may not have been a shooter, but what’s to say Blake wouldn’t have died young in some other way?”

“But he hasn’t died.” He sounded almost repulsed by the idea.

“No. He didn’t die. He didn’t die because he happened to be with the president and received immediate care.”

==

Russell drove the familiar path through the gates. “If you need a ride back, let me know.”

“You’re not coming in?”

He shook his head. “I’m sticking with advice by phone these days. Carol comes first from here on out.”

Nadine nodded in understanding; she’d reached her own point where she’d decided to put life ahead of the job. “You should still go see Blake sometime though.”

“I just might.” He gave her a half smile as she climbed out of the car and then vanished inside.

The halls were surprisingly empty and quiet as Nadine made her way through to where the offices were. She found Jay’s first and peeked in, offering a wide smile when he looked up. “How is everything?”

Jay waved her in and to a seat. “Normal crazy. It was good to get together the other night, I’m sorry I hadn’t been able to catch up before then.”

“I understand, it’s okay. How are the kids?” She sat back and enjoyed listening to him gush over his family and the parts of the job he could freely talk about.

==

Henry waited patiently for his wife to come in. He didn’t have the same relationship with the current receptionist that he’d had with Blake, so he felt adrift with no updates throughout the day. When the door opened, he looked up eagerly. “Hey.”

“Hi.” Elizabeth smiled at him, holding the door open as Nadine followed her in. “Guess what happened today?”

“I- I don’t know.” He shook his head.

“Blake woke up!” She was practically vibrating with excitement over the news. “Nadine called me from the hospital.”

“He seemed coherent enough, obviously in pain, but the doctors are hopeful that he’ll recover in time.” Nadine elaborated. “I stopped by the house and talked to Matt and Daisy. They want to be able to go by and see him and then, depending on how soon Blake will be discharged, they have to start thinking about getting back to California.”

“Oh.” Elizabeth frowned. “I was hoping to get together again once Blake’s out.”

“It would be nice.” She agreed. “But it’ll really depend I think.”

“I get that.” She turned to Henry. “I want to go visit Blake. We need to talk to Trevor and see when we can go. Nadine’s call was wonderful, but I need to see him in person.”

“I’ll call him and then talk to Secret Service.” Henry went to find his phone.

“So.” Elizabeth turned to Nadine. “Will you have to leave soon too?”

“I have no commitments for a while yet. I talk to Roman, keep him updated on how things are going. He was a bit shaken when he came up with this thought that if I hadn’t moved years ago, I could have been on the stage as well, as your Chief of Staff.”

“That idea probably terrified him.”

“I never really told him about the occasional risks at State. I mean, he worried when Marsh’s plane went down, but aside from that, so much of what we got involved in never made the news. There were times we all went home and covered what we’d seen or experienced that day.”

“True.” Elizabeth agreed. “I lied about pretty much all of my CIA time, especially to my kids and then… some of the worst parts at State? Lied. That this shooting was all over the news made me feel so…exposed. I couldn’t control the information or how fast it was out there. I couldn’t protect my kids from it.”

“Would you have?”

She had to think on that a second. “I’m not sure I would have told them I was shot. Or maybe not that I was intentionally shot. I know they’re all adults, but I always want to protect them so much.”

“And now it’s Blake’s turn. He won’t be able to hide it from Trevor, but I suspect he’ll never tell Jacob how close it was.”

“Probably not. It’s a huge thing to carry, how much does he actually remember?”

“I didn’t ask. Once he seemed to be staying awake, I gave Trevor the time.”


	12. Chapter 12

“If he continues doing well, we’ll let him go home at the end of the week.” The doctor answered the last of the questions.

Content in what she’d learned, Elizabeth turned to Trevor. “Think he’ll be up for a visitor?”

“He’s been dozing off and on, but I did tell him you were finally going to be able to visit.” Trevor led her down the hall toward Blake’s room. His husband had been awake for three days. “He’s awake. Look who’s here.” Trevor stayed at the door, watching Blake’s eyes light up at the sight of his boss and friend. “I’m going to grab a coffee.” He slipped out, letting the door shut.

Elizabeth felt tears spring to her eyes. “Look at you!” She moved a chair into place and sank into it with a heavy sigh. “It’s so good to see you awake, in person.”

Emotion choked him up and it took a moment to find his voice again, he lifted his hand, waiting for her to reach out to take it. “You’re alive.”

“Thanks to you. You shouldn’t have done it.”

“The country needs you.”

“And a lot of people need you, Blake. Your husband and son, for starters. They can’t just go out and replace you, you know.” She squeezed his fingers. “And I need you. I told you, beginning to end, you’re with me. Getting shot and dying kind of destroys that, don’t you think?”

He attempted a smile. “I’m sorry.”

It took her a minute to be able to continue talking. “What do you remember?”

“I remember hearing something hit the wall… Reaching for you.” He sucked in a careful breath. “I remember following the agents inside, watching them carry you and seeing you bleeding. I don’t really remember anything else.”

“I thought you were dead, Blake. When I saw you after… I thought you were already dead.” A tear broke free. “I didn’t know. They put me in an ambulance while people were still working on you, so I didn’t know what was happening. Then I…” She cut off.

He realized that she wasn’t going to finish without being pushed. “Then what?” He prompted. “Elizabeth… Tell me.”

She shuddered.

“You can’t do this to yourself.” He tugged her hand until she scooted closer. He wished he could do more, but most movement still hurt a lot. “You’re going to hold it in until you have a panic attack, please don’t do that to yourself.”

“I already did.” Her voice was barely a whisper.

“What?”

“When I thought you were dead… I ended up sedated for a while. It was too similar and I just… All I saw were all those dead bodies and then you… I’m sorry.” She sat up straight. “You don’t need this right now.”

When she tried to pull away, Blake held tighter to her hand, pulling until she rose and shifted to sitting on the edge of his bed. “Look at me.” He waited till her eyes met his. “We had another deal.” She tried to look away, but he ignored the twinge in his side as he leaned to hold her gaze. “No secrets, not when it comes to this kind of thing… I. See. You.” He stressed the last sentence. “I’m not all the people out there in the world.”

“I haven’t been sleeping really. Some nights it’s you, others it’s Fred or someone else. I just keep seeing all these people who died because of…” She cut off. “Henry says I dissociated or something, I think there was another word they used, afterward.”

“Have you talked to anyone?”

She shrugged. “Russell made me talk a little before I was discharged and I talk a little to Henry, but not… Not about everything.”

He sighed as much as his body would let him. “Where is Henry now?” He doubted he was far away.

“In the waiting room.” A thought popped into her mind and she gave him a faltering smile as she tried to change the subject. “Speaking of secrets, when were you planning on telling me you and Stevie were a thing for a while?”

==

“Wow, you look a lot better than you did before.” Henry stated as he entered Blake’s room after Elizabeth came out. “I’m very happy for that.” He thought the gown and hospital bed made Blake look years younger than he knew he was, but he kept that to himself. “You have a long recovery ahead of you, but we’re all here if you or Trevor need anything.”

“I know.” He tried to readjust so he was sitting straighter. “I got Elizabeth to talk to me.” He jumped right in. “And I’m worried.”

Henry sighed. He knew Elizabeth hadn’t been talking as much as she should’ve been. He knew she was hiding things from him. “I’ve been trying to talk to her, get her to talk to me. I didn’t want to push because she’s been so worried about you, but my gut says she’s really struggling and is going to just spiral.”

“Well, now I’m going to be going home soon.” He watched his friend beat himself up. “Henry. Trust your gut and don’t give up.”


	13. Chapter 13

Blake was surprised when he woke up and found Russell, of all people, sitting in his hospital room. He didn’t say anything until the older man looked up and noticed he was awake.

“Thank you for not being dead.”

“Really?” He smirked, laughing hurt. “Have you been waiting for me to wake up just to say that?”

Russell laughed. “Among other things. Carol gave me an idea of what you have in store in the coming months, it’s not her field really, but she knows everything.” He paused. “I need you to keep in touch during your recovery, every week even, I want to know how you are doing. I’ve talked to your husband a few times and I know he’s been taking a lot of time off work… If ever you are worried about money or the cost of something, you call me. Okay? We’ll work it out.”

“Why?” While they’d finally gotten along well enough, Blake never would’ve considered Russell a friend.

“Bess wanted to quit. Wants to quit if my conversations with Jay are any gauge. Even if you never go back to work, you need to get better and I have it on good authority that stress prevents healing. We all need you well enough to convince her it’s a bad idea. We have all logged too many years investing in her to let her just walk away after this.”

“What makes you think she’ll listen to me?”

Russell pulled a face. “Are you kidding? You’re the only person she listens to when she gets her mind set on something.  
==

Trevor returned to Blake’s room once he thought Russell had had enough time to find Blake alone but awake. “So, how was the visit?”

“Has he really been by when I’ve been out of it?”

“Yeah. He’s not a bad guy when he’s all freaked out and worried.” He sat on the edge of his husband’s bed. “Every time he’s been by, he asks about Jacob and me. He wanted to get in here and see you before Elizabeth came, but she was kind of last minute.”

“Something’s up, I can’t figure it out. He wants to be kept up to date on my recovery and he said some other things too.”

“About not worrying about money? Yeah, he mentioned that to me before. I hoped you would understand why.”

“Russell and I aren’t exactly what you would call friends. More like…tolerant acquaintances.”

“So, why would he do that?”

“I haven’t a clue.” Blake tried to think hard as to why Russell would be so nice. “Unless it has something to do with Elizabeth? He said she talked about resigning.”

“Is he wanting you to go back to work? You’re not even out of the hospital!”

“No.” He shook his head carefully. “I can’t put my finger on it. Is Nadine still in town?”

“Um, yeah. She’s around.” Trevor smiled. “She’s pretty amazing. She turned up right after you came out of surgery and instantly it was like we’d known each other years. And the way she kept track of all the information coming in about your condition, it was just…wow.”

“Could you call her? Maybe she can help me work out what’s going on?”

“Okay. Do you want me to see if she can come by today?”

“If she wants.”

==

When Nadine arrived several hours later, Blake was drifting in and out and had to fight to stay awake to talk to her. “Hi.” He did his best to smile. “Thank you for looking after Trevor.” He smoothed out the blanket so she could sit on the edge of the bed, so they were eye level.

“He said you needed to talk. What’s up?”

“Something’s going on and I can’t work it out. Is something wrong with Elizabeth?”

“What makes you think that?”

“Russell was in here. This morning at the start of visiting hours, Elizabeth and Henry were here.”

“Ah.”

“You know something.”

Nadine nodded. “Last week I guess it was, we talked.” She sighed. “I really shouldn’t tell you this because I don’t want it to color your decision.”

“Nadine.”

“She told she won’t pressure you to come back to work, she just wants you alive and healthy.”

“But?”

“But if you don’t come back, she won’t run for her second term.”

“That makes what Russell said make sense.”

“She was talking, before you woke up, about resigning outright if you didn’t.” She watched him process that. “She doesn’t know but… I’ve been talking to Jay and Henry. Blake, the Elizabeth you and I know hasn’t really come back yet since the shooting. They told me she has good moments, but it’s like the days after the coup. Henry told me he felt helpless.”

“Oh.”

“You can’t use this as an excuse to force yourself better before you’re ready. If anything, this should push you to take more time and do it right.”

“Russell said I was the only one she will listen to.”

“Russell’s an idiot.” She watched him arch a brow at her. “Accurate, but still an idiot. He shouldn’t have told you that.”

Blake thought a minute. He desperately wanted to be out now so he could figure out what was going on, but his biggest allies would be Trevor and Nadine, and to get either of them on board, he needed to play by the rules. “The doctor said I might be going home at the end of the week. If I do well and Trevor agrees I’ve been a good patient for a week once I’m out, can you please help me figure out a way to. I don’t know, fix this.” He looked at her hopefully. “I didn’t save her life for her to throw it all away. I’m worried.”

“I’ll talk it over with Trevor.” She agreed.


	14. Chapter 14

Blake hated the restrictions. He hated the therapy, both the psychological therapy and the physical. He really hated that he could barely care for his son, though he was thankful to be able to at least hold him. He made sure to carefully follow each instruction to the letter, doing his best never to complain or resist, he was determined to not give Trevor any reason to not agree with what he wanted to do next.

A week after being released, he was opening their door to let Nadine in.

“You’re allowed to open doors?” She teased. “Is that safe?”

“I’ve been a perfect patient, thank you.”

She looked to Trevor for confirmation.

“He’s been pretty good; it’s been a little weird actually.”

“Today my doctor said if I keep it up, I’ll be allowed back to light duty in a few weeks.”

Nadine rolled her eyes good naturedly as she took Jacob when Trevor offered him. “Let’s sit, I want to enjoy your son and it’s easier for me if I’m sitting down. He is a doll, Blake, I can’t believe how much he looks like you.” She made happy faces at Jacob. “But those eyes, I’m guessing those are from whatever donor you used?” She watched the two men exchange a look; Blake was grinning. “What?”

“The short answer is, yes.”

“And the long one?” She looked back to the baby in her lap.

“I think if you look long enough, you’ll figure it out.” He evaded. “Do you think we could arrange a get-together while everyone is still in town? I don’t even know how long you and the others are staying.”

“Matt has to go back soon, Daisy’s between assignments, but Joanna has school to go back to. I’ll talk to Jay about it, maybe next week?”

“Sure. I’m not allowed to drive yet.”

“I’ll talk to Henry, he let me borrow his car the other day to handle a few things, he’ll probably let me again.” Suddenly, she gave a small gasp. “I know who his eyes remind me of!” She looked back up and Blake was grinning wide.

“Stevie was the egg donor. It’s a long conversation that happened a really long time ago. We had to make Elizabeth swear to secrecy, but she does get to be his grandma, which you can imagine she absolutely hates.”

“I bet. She never said a word.” She stared at Jacob’s features again, assessing him now that she knew; she could see both Blake and Stevie in the baby. “He’s going to be someone pretty special.”

Both Blake ad Trevor agreed, but they figured they were pretty biased, given that they were his parents.

“I wanted to talk to you about something else.” Blake shifted the subject. “And I’m going to need your help.”


	15. Chapter 15

It was the last night Matt and Daisy would be in DC, Jay was helping them put out some food for everyone to enjoy, Nadine had driven over to pick up Blake and Elizabeth was due soon.

“It’s been good seeing you guys.” Jay admitted to the pair. “I’ll have to schedule vacation time soon and get out your way with my family.”

“You totally should.” Matt agreed as he heard the front door opened. “Hello?” He called out.

“Just us.” Nadine’s voice filtered back. “No rushing.”

The trio came to the doorway and watched Blake gingerly follow Nadine in. “Look at you!” Matt exclaimed, drawing Blake’s attention to them. “Elizabeth will be here any minute, so better find you a seat before she comes through that door.”

“No rushing!” Nadine repeated with more force. “I will not have you doing something and ending up back in the hospital on my watch.” She scolded.

“Gosh, Mom, cut him some slack.” Matt cheeked.

“Blake’s old enough to handle himself.” Jay added in.

“Because any of you have ever been good at that?” Daisy asked. “I remember more than one dumb thing any of you’ve done that you should’ve been old enough not to do.”

Nadine placed her bag on the table, watching closely as Blake eased himself into one of the dining chairs carefully. “All this time and you are all still the same kids you were.” As she spoke, the front door opened again and Elizabeth stepped through.

“Kids?” Elizabeth laughed. “Are you making sure they’re staying in line, Nadine?”

“I’m giving it my best.” She waited until Elizabeth dropped her things before giving her a hug. “Blake’s just in the dining room.” She moved that way as Matt and Daisy greeted her as well.

Elizabeth hesitated once she got to Blake’s side. “What won’t hurt you?”

“As long as I don’t twist or move too much, the pain’s manageable.”

“Okay.” She hugged him from behind. “How’s that?”

“Good.” He put his hand against the arm across his chest in an attempt to return the embrace.

Everyone took a seat around the table, Blake found himself between Nadine and Elizabeth as the food was passed around.

Jay looked around the table and smiled. “You know, I think this right here is the best group of people I could ever have in my life.” When they all lightly laughed, he did too. “I’m not kidding. You guys were there when Chloe was born, when Abby and I split, when I found love again. You guys put up with me on my bad days, set me straight on the worst ones, and you were always there for anything.”

“Jay’s right.” Daisy spoke up over Matt’s teasing. “When Joe happened and then Joanna… I realized that this right here was my family. Matt mentioned something years ago about how family didn’t have to be blood.” She shared a look with him. “And unfortunately, he was right.”

Her comment seemed to bring Matt around. “I’ve always known I would be supported, no rationality needed, with you guys. Sometimes I thought you pushed too hard, but I always knew it came from a good place. Not always a kind or sugarcoated place, but a good one.”

The room went quiet and then they all looked to Nadine, who realized they were waiting on her to go next. She sighed. “Okay.” She took a drink of her wine and set the glass down. “When all of you started… I was simply waiting until you were fired. I knew there was no way I would have anything in common with any of you.” She frowned a moment. “I was sure you would all judge me for my affair. I was… wrong, about so many of my early assumptions. And I was glad, thankful even, that I was. Leaving all of you was like leaving one family to go be with another. It was a no brainer when I saw the news, to get on the next plane and come back to my family.”

“When Matt called me, I was so worried, but it was the same.” Daisy agreed. “We had to get to our family.”

Jay looked at the three of them. “I was already here with Mike. And then Russell called, and I had all the other staff, but I really felt like I couldn’t dig in and focus and do my job and then Russell said you guys were in town. Just knowing you were around, looking after these two while I did my thing. I knew my family was on it and I could get back to work.”

“I am just thankful that all of you were the staff I inherited.” Elizabeth spoke up when no one else added anything else. “You all kept me from making a fool of myself and then once you decided you liked me, you helped me get where I am now.” She lifted her glass. “How about a toast to family in whatever form we find it?” They all lifted their glasses as well and then drank.

Blake had watched them all talk, assessing each one of them and then he turned, watching Elizabeth quietly take it all in. Even her own comments were in a much more dulled tone. She was faking well, but she wasn’t as engaged. Taking a breath, he took his own turn, adding his piece. “Now that I have Trevor and Jacob, I think I have a real experience on what family feels like and I can say without a doubt, you all are my family. I can’t imagine life without any of you, even with the bickering and the annoying moments and the bad days.” He glanced at all of them. “And even with everyone telling embarrassing stories about me behind my back.” He smiled as they all laughed.

“Wait, who told?” Matt asked.

“Who else?” Daisy answered, waving toward Elizabeth with a laugh.

“Really?” He groaned. “Well, at least my stories weren’t that bad. Not like some people.” He shot Jay a teasing look.

“I really thought one of them told her already.” He defended. “Anyway. Maybe we should level the field here and get a few stories about one another out before you guys all go back to your lives.”

Matt stopped him. “Wait, is this wise? I mean, we’ve all done some things over the years and I’m not sure I trust any of you and what you know.”

“Come on, Matt.” Daisy goaded. “I’ll go first.” She thought a minute. “I think my best memory is that trip we had to make to Orlando for the Economic Partnership Conference, you remember the one?” Matt and Jay both grinned and nodded. “Sun, sand, palm trees.”

“And, if I recall, a two AM wake up over a little lizard in a bed.” Nadine added. “I could hear the screaming through the wall.”

“That was all Matt.” Daisy pointed out.

Sipping her wine, Nadine grinned knowingly. “Which was interesting as it was your room that was next door.”

“Wait, wait.” Matt was determined to join in. “Most memorable, hands down, the trip where Jay fell asleep and missed the speech he was supposed to give and Elizabeth had to step in at the last second because we didn’t know where he’d gone.”

“And we all learned our lesson on planning for all contingencies.” Jay shrugged. “I have a few, but I think the best one of all time, sorry Blake, was mister golden boy here and the public urination arrest.”

“Aw, come on!” Blake felt himself blush. “Really? I thought we swore never to bring that up again.” Laughing made his body ache, but it felt so good to be able to do so with friends. He glanced to the side and saw Elizabeth was watching all of them but still wasn’t as into it as they were. “Like we swore never to talk about the Vatican State Dinner?”

“Okay, okay! I’m sorry, Blake. Please don’t!” Jay laughed as he begged. “How about instead I pick the one where that aide from Turkey kept trying to hit on Nadine for, what was it? Three days?”

“He turned up outside my room.” She admitted. “He was a creepy little weasel.”

“Yeah, well, speaking of weasels, how about the time Russell stormed the inner office…” Daisy shared a look with Elizabeth. “We swore never to speak of it, so Nadine, you _really_ don’t know. I would sit in there with the door shut sometimes and pump after Joanna was born.”

Elizabeth smiled, though he could tell it didn’t reach her eyes, leaning forward so she could see around Blake. “We managed to break Russell’s habit of barging into my office, let’s leave it at that.”

“Oh my… Wow.” Nadine shook her head. “Wow.”

Blake finally thought of what his favorite memory was. “I think mine’s the Copenhagen trip for the Trade Summit. The hotel was to die for, but I think the best part of the trip was that it snowed quite a bit our third day there and we had that chance to see the lights. It was cold and so we were all walking through, huddled together. Matt, Frank, and Todd, and who was the other guy?”

“Uhh…” Nadine thought a second. “Owen, because at first I thought he said Roman.”

“They were all upset because we insisted on going out.” Daisy remembered.

“Oh, I miss the days when I could travel with only four guys.” Elizabeth reminisced. “Copenhagen was beautiful though.”

==

Blake wasn’t sure what she’d said, but Nadine had managed to get the other three to quietly leave after the meal was over, leaving him carefully lowering himself onto the couch in the den beside where Elizabeth had curled up. “What do you see?”

The question clearly surprised her, she stared at him for several minutes, trying to work it out. “What?”

“What do you see? I’ve been watching you all evening and you look… haunted. Not necessarily with flashbacks, but memories. It’s like ghosts in your eyes.”

She dropped her gaze, not answering for a while. A tear dripped down her cheek, but she did nothing to wipe it away. “My parents, the last time I saw them… I was irritated with them. Fred…” She sighed. “He was upset the whole flight to Iran, we argued a few times on the way… Joey and I argued before he left my house that night… You…”

“Me, what? We’d barely seen one another the morning I was shot.” He tipped his head to the side, studying her.

“I knew you were fighting with Mike. I was upset you two couldn’t just grow up and get along. I was irritated when I thought you couldn’t get past the issues enough to stand with me for the signing. I was… I was angry at you.”

“I got angry and then you died. And I knew I would forever have to live with being angry at you when you died, just like I have to live with it with all of them. And Fred died for me, literally died in my place, even though he knew I was upset for him trying to force me to not go.” She sniffled. “It didn’t matter to him.” She drew a breath. “Joey put himself out there because I was angry with him. He took that risk, knew… He told me opposition was circling his father’s deathbed to overthrow their power. You died for me.”

“I’m not dead.” He reached out to her. “I’m right here.”

“I know. But it’s like seeing a ghost. I see you on that floor, blood pooling around you, clothes cut away. You were gray and…dead. You looked dead. I can’t unsee it.” She shook her head. “They replaced the sofa and the carpet already, but I still see the blood all over it when I walk through there. I can’t go through that end of the building or outside without hearing the noise, feeling you push me down, hear the last words I ever heard you say… Thought I would hear you say… ‘Stay down’. And I hear it and I try but there’s no threat now.” She glanced at him. “I think I’m going crazy.”

“No.” He hated that it would hurt to try and move closer, and if he reacted to the pain, she’d only get more upset; instead, he watched her curl further in on herself at the far end of the couch. “You’re not crazy.” He placed a hand on her arm.

“Are you sure?” She began to cry in earnest.

Nadine appeared at the edge of the room and Blake mouthed ‘Henry’ to her, watching her nod and vanish again.

Time ticked by, Blake simply stayed where he was until Henry walked in quietly, looking them both over. When Elizabeth didn’t seem to react to her husband’s presence, Blake stood and moved toward the kitchen. “She needs help.” He kept his voice soft. “Me being here is only making it worse.”

“This is, honestly, the most upset I’ve seen her except right after it happened.” Henry admitted.

“I can tell you what she said to me.” He frowned. “For what little my opinion’s worth, I don’t think she is any state to go back to the White House.” When Henry nodded, Blake outlined the evening to him. “I’m sorry.” He finished. “I will work at getting better, I… I think that’s the best I can do right now.” He turned and started toward the front door where he suspected Nadine was quietly waiting to take him home.

“Blake.” Henry stopped him again in the dining room. “I’ll keep you updated.” He watched Blake nod and turn away again. Once they were gone, he returned to his wife’s side, pulling her into his lap. He’d have to make some decisions about what to do next.


	16. Chapter 16

Nadine guided the car away from the house, glancing at Blake in the passenger seat. “Want to talk?”

“I- I was the problem.” His brows were pulled together. “I’m not even sure what to say.”

“I tried not to listen in.” Nadine admitted. “But at the same time, I wanted to be close enough to help if you needed me. That wasn’t exactly what I had in mind for a no-stress evening with friends.” When he didn’t respond, she reached across the center and squeezed his hand. “Blake… Out with whatever is rattling around in that brain of yours, even if it’s just gibberish.”

“I think I need to talk to Russell.”

“Russell? Why?”

“I think he knows more than what he said to me last week?” He finally looked up at her.

After an internal debate, she nodded. “Call him, tell him we’re on our way over.”

==

Henry sat with his wife in silence, waiting for her to wear herself out. He didn’t realize how much time ticked by until his phone rang. “Hey Russell.” He greeted quietly. “Now’s not really a good time.”

“I know.” He sounded worried and maybe a little resigned. “I made some calls, OTR for now until you say it’s time to read in Jay, but I can tell you that a stay at Camp David can be arranged for some recuperation time and we can just so happen to have a doctor visiting at the same time and if they happen to have conversations… well, then so be it.”

“How did you-” He was surprised and a bit confused.

“Blake’s here with Nadine. Like I said, right now this is outside advice based on years of experience. It would take one call and you could be on the road tonight. To the rest of the world, it would simply be the President taking some time to herself after an attempted assassination, which no one would blame her for. I’m sure with Jay’s skills, much of the office would tick along as normal and there would be minimal disruption. But obviously, ultimately, the decision is up to the two of you.” He sighed. “But you know as well as I do that the trauma doesn’t just go way until it’s dealt with and triggers… Triggers either need to be avoided or worked through. And if Blake’s now a trigger…” He trailed off, leaving the rest unsaid.

“Give me a few minutes to think about it.” Henry responded, hanging up. Holding his wife in his lap, Henry thought of her as just that, just his wife. The woman he’d loved for three and a half decades. He let his thumb brush over where he knew the scar was under her sleeve. The only physical scar she bore because of a guy who nearly sacrificed himself. “Hey, Babe.” He brushed her hair off her face, rousing her enough that they could talk. “Elizabeth, I think we need to talk. Really talk. Come on, sit up for me.” He nudged her until she turned and faced him. “You’re having a hard time; I’m sorry I’ve not been pushing you when maybe I should have. I guess I hoped we would all just muddle through and get better.” He drew a breath. “What do you think about taking some time away? We can drive up to Camp David and…maybe your doctor could meet us out there?”

“Why?”

“Because you need help, Babe. You need to talk to a professional and get it all out and work past ti and I don’t think just going about our normal lives is doing you any favors.”

“The country isn’t going to just stop and wait while I take a vacation, Henry. The nation wants a picture of stability and if I just run off, all sorts of groups start wavering or doing things because they think there’s an opening. I’m fine.” She started to stand, but he pulled her back down. “Henry!”

“You’re not fine. Do you have any idea how many people have spent weeks telling me you’re not fine and I’ve been telling them to be patient? I’ve been ignoring them? You’ll bounce back, I tell them, You’ll be fine. Now I realize you can barely walk through the White House without having flashbacks? You can’t even look at Blake?” He huffed, calming himself a bit. “I’m sorry. This time I think I have to make the decision and my decision is you need help. You can be mad at me all you want, but I want you well; so, if you’re well and mad, well… I’ll just learn to live with that.” He turned loose of her and stood, starting to walk slightly away. “I was told that Jay can arrange it and we could be on the road tonight. Are you calling him, or am I?”

Elizabeth was quiet for a minute. “I’ll call him.” She watched Henry begin to leave and called out to stop him. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything. I thought I could handle it myself.”

“You don’t need to handle it yourself.” His voice was soft. “That’s our point. All of us. You’ve never needed to handle anything alone.” He paused at the edge of the room. “Tell Jay two weeks to begin with, we’ll see how it goes.”

“Okay.”

“I love you, Elizabeth.”

“I love you too, Henry.”


	17. Chapter 17

Henry sat outside in the sun, face turned up and eyes closed as he waited for the sounds of a car that would be soon pulling up the drive. Elizabeth had been at Camp David for three weeks, he’d been travelling back and forth, still maintaining his own responsibilities in the city to provide the appearance that all was well. Life seemed to be moving on, the former staff had all gone back home, news cycles had moved on to the next big story, the world kept turning for everyone. Everyone, it seemed, except his wife.

The first weekend had been rough, the late-night drive when she was already so emotionally raw had led into a weekend of her insisting that she was, in fact, simply fine after all. Henry stood his ground this time though, he hadn’t made the same mistakes as he had in the past, he named what he was seeing and forced her to hear it. As he’d spoken to her, begged her to see what he was seeing, he remembered a brief conversation from several years before about just this sort of thing- that even without naming it, Henry would know when there was a problem. It was that small memory of that belief in him that helped him get through what followed.

Elizabeth’s first week at Camp David, she’d shut him out entirely, angry that he wouldn’t give in and let her go back to her life. Each time Henry saw the doctor, she was apologetic, Elizabeth had been clear that she didn’t want Henry to be told what was happening. The radio silence hurt even more when anyone asked him how she was doing, because he couldn’t even lie about the answer, he truly didn’t have a clue.

The second week seemed to turn a corner, he’d been sitting in the spot he was now when Elizabeth had suddenly taken a seat beside him, silently staring out at the trees. Neither had spoken, just simply sat together for several hours before she’d finally left again. To Henry, though, it had felt like the building of a bridge; that maybe she was working her way through the storm happening in her mind. He prayed that she would come to him again and again until she came and stayed, and he swore that he’d be ready whenever she needed him.

When she joined him for breakfast the following morning, he’d broken the silence. “I’m happy to see you.” He’d watched her start on her meal carefully. “How are you doing?”

Eventually, slowly, her eyes had come up to meet his. “I think I’m getting there.”

He’d slid his hand across the table, not making contact with hers, but stopping just before they touched. He wanted her to know he was there, but he would wait for her to take that step. “I’ve been worried.”

She’d nodded. “I’m sorry, Henry. I- I guess I didn’t realize how much it was messing me up.”

“It’s okay. I should have seen it sooner, I- I should have stopped you from going back to work so fast. This was entirely different to years ago, you literally went back to the scene of what happened every single day, over and over, and that should have never happened. I am sorry, Elizabeth.” He’d been shocked when her hand had slipped into his then. “I’m right here, whenever you’re ready for me again.”

“I know.” Her face had twisted a moment as if she would start to cry, but then she took a breath and calmed. “I realize now that a lot of people were worried about me and were trying to help me, I just wasn’t listening.”

He’d not been able to help the tiny huff of mirth. “We’re all used to it, Babe. Once you have your mind set on something, you’ve always been pretty hard to get to listen.”

After that, their conversation had lapsed again, but hesitantly, things had started improving as the days had gone on. He’d found she was more honest about what she remembered and what she was dealing with, with one exception that had worried him with each passing day. No matter what she’d talked about, whether it was the morning of the shooting, the aftermath, or any day since, she’d never explicitly mentioned Blake. If she even hinted at him as part of something it was ‘he’ or ‘him’, but never his name; distancing herself, it seemed. By the middle of the third week, Henry had brought it up to the doctor, expressing his concern that this one issue was something that had to be addressed one way or the other.

The following morning, the doctor had addressed Henry’s concerns head on, he’d been in the room when she’d looked at Elizabeth and directly asked the question. “Tell me about Blake?” The response that followed told both she and Henry that Elizabeth still had a long way to go.

==

Riding in the back seat, Blake nervously, turned the phone in his hands over and over. He’d been out of the hospital a month and had forced himself to put all of his energy into the job of recovering.

After the night of the dinner, he’d tried keeping regularly in touch with Henry, but that first weekend had been difficult, he’d been able to tell that even over the phone, and then days later when the older man had admitted he’d been shut out entirely, Blake had stopped calling, concerned that he was making an already bad situation worse. Through Jay, he learned snippets- Henry was in his office a day or two a week, just enough to maintain appearances, but clearly was distracted and worried. Blake had shared after the second week that his doctor had cleared him to return to desk work, but then admitted that he was reluctant to even try to go back, afraid that getting settled again before he knew if Elizabeth would be able to handle him at the desk would make it that much harder if he had to step down again.

And then Henry himself called, surprising him, and asked if he could come out to Camp David for a few days, at Elizabeth’s doctor’s request.

Staring out the window at the passing trees, Blake wondered exactly what to expect, Camp David wasn’t a place he came to almost ever; he’d been only twice before in his entire tenure in DC. When Elizabeth was Secretary, any business dealings she’d done there had been accompanied by Jay, or even Nadine once, and then since she’d become President, the handful of visits had been just she and Henry. Their place away from the world. Being summoned there now puzzled him.

The SUV came to a stop and Blake carefully climbed out. Most days the pain was a minor ache he could easily ignore, but occasionally, a sharp move would take him by surprise. To one side of the, Henry was seated on a bench waiting. “Henry.” He greeted as he made his way over.

Henry rose to meet him. “Blake. Thank you for coming up.”

“How’s everything going?”

He sighed. “Well, she’s talking.” He turned to begin leading the way into the main building. “That’s more than I can say about how we started. I guess while she wasn’t talking to me, she was working out enough with the doctor and… that’s been going well enough. We think she’s about ready to head back to the city without completely falling apart. I mean, I guess to some extent, we don’t actually know until she gets there if simply talking about it has done enough.”

Blake listened closely, catching that there was something his friend wasn’t saying. “But?”

Henry stopped and turned to face him, looking him over and seeing for what felt like the first time the changes in his friend. In his mind, Blake was still the reserved and occasionally nervous guy in his twenties who shyly did his job instead of the outgoing and confident man nearing closer to forty who took ownership in his White House role, no hesitation in sight. Studying him, Henry could see the stress and years in Blake’s face like he knew were appearing on his own; it wasn’t a secret that being president ages a person faster, but it seemed it also aged those closest to her as well. “But.. She wouldn’t even say your name.” He ducked his head. “When we pushed, she broke down all over again.” He looked up again, rubbing a hand over his face. “It’s been a rough couple days, but the doctor thought it would be a good idea to bring you up here. As much as it pains me to even think it, we could be at a crossroads where she’s ready and able to go back to work…”

Blake exhaled the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “As long as I’m not there.”

“And if you’re not there, she may not want to go back.” He unknowingly echoed Nadine’s words from a month earlier. “And honestly? I’m used to having you around. The last few weeks really drove home for me how much I rely on having you as a friend, so I’m not okay with you simply vanishing into obscurity. We’ve been friends far too long for that.” Henry started walking again, leading Blake toward another room. “So, let’s see what it will take to get us all home, shall we?” He asked as he reached for the handle and opened the door.


	18. Chapter 18

Henry stayed in his seat across from Susan, his wife’s doctor, as Elizabeth and then Blake both left the room. The four of them had talked and listened for nearly two hours before he could see Elizabeth was running out of steam and needed a break. As soon as he’d mentioned it, she’d been out of the room in an instant; Blake had only stayed moments longer, deferring to Henry for a nod before leaving as well, though he went an entirely different direction. On his own, Henry turned back and waited for Susan to start whatever conversation he knew was about to happen.

Playing back the past two hours and then everything she knew about Elizabeth and Henry, she decided to start simple. “You’ve known Blake a long time.” She observed.

“It’s been… over ten years now. Since UVA.”

“And you’re good friends.” She added for him. “I know you and Elizabeth both have many friends, good friends; you’ve both spoken about them in the past, and I know you’ve talked about how many have been concerned over the past few months. I guess my first question is, what makes him any different than any of those others?”

Henry had to consider that for a few minutes. “I’m not really sure.”

“Okay. How about, why is it important to you that this one friendship gets saved?”

That one, he realized, didn’t take as much time to think on. “Because Elizabeth needs someone she can trust to talk to in those times she feels she can’t talk to me.” He watched her nod as she listened. “Her job’s always had that element of isolation since we came to DC and…”

“I understand.” She glanced to the door. “My opinion is they need to talk, just the two of them. I could already see what you meant when you mentioned yesterday that he would never do something to make her worse. It’s not going to magically fix everything, but she’s been doing a lot better. I will need to ask Elizabeth directly as well, but could I get your permission to speak frankly with him if the opportunity arises? He’s been through a major trauma as well and I’d like to see how he’s doing before we pull him into all of this much further.”

“Yeah. That’s fine. We’ve never had secrets from Blake.”

==

_Two-hundred acres_ , Blake thought to himself, it was the amount of space available to wander into nature. Camp David really was beautiful, peaceful; he could see the appeal to have it available for an escape from the rush of DC. Following a trail, an agent in the main lodge had given him a less-than-subtle clue on which was to start walking, assuming that he was looking for POTUS, wherever she’d gone. He decided that it was one nice side of Secret Service knowing where she was at all times, two hundred acres was a lot of space to search.

Cresting a small hill, he spotted her at the bottom. He walked carefully, not wanting to startle her but also not wanting to disturb her either as he stopped a few feet away. “Hey, you.” He drew her attention. “It’s good to see you; I’ve missed you.”

She looked almost his way, but not quite. “I’ve missed you too. I’m sorry for freaking out on you that night.”

“It’s okay.” He caught the wary look she gave him. “Really. We all need a safe place to absolutely lose it on occasion. And you held it together for weeks before it happened, so I’m pretty sure there’s nothing to apologize for.” He looked around at the woods around them. “Talk to me.”

She sucked in a breath almost instantly, as if she’d been simply waiting on permission. “I don’t see you dead every time I look at you now. That’s good, right?” She properly faced him for the first time since he’d arrived. “I hate feeling so out of control.”

“I know.” He drew a breath. “And yeah, it’s kind of nice to hear you know I’m alive. I’m- I’m free to go back to work whenever you are, by the way. I’m alive enough to do that.”

“Whenever I am? You don’t need to wait for me, Blake. You love that job and I know you miss it.”

“What about together until the end? Why is that only one direction?” Surprise filled her features and he nodded. “Yeah, I know about that. So. If you can say you’ll resign if I can’t return, then I get to say the same as well. I’m here and ready, whenever you are, whatever you need.” He saw tears form in the corners of her eyes and finally closed the distance. “I’m okay. And you will be too. I promise.” She met him for the final inches, leaning into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. Her tears this time were silent as she stayed, arms wrapped around his waist. “It’ll be okay.” He whispered against her hair.

==

Cautiously, Henry held Elizabeth’s hand as they walked from the motorcade to the residence. It was mid-afternoon Tuesday and he was surprised to find the halls empty as they made their way up. Normally, the White House was a bustling hive of activity. Opening the door, he led her in and let out the breath he’d been holding. “You okay?”

Elizabeth turned to face him. “I am. Not one memory or anything.” Her eyes moved to the door and then back to him again. “Odd though, that we didn’t run into anyone, right? Especially since I’ve been gone so long?”

“I was thinking that too.” He agreed. His phone beeped and he checked it. “Actually, maybe not so odd.” He grinned.

“Why’s that?”

“I think today was Blake’s first day back as well.” He turned the screen so she could read the message. _Welcome back. Let me know if you need anything._

Elizabeth smiled. “He always knows just when to reach out. I should see him before I give the address, I want to make sure he’s going to be there.” She met his eyes and he could see the anxiousness in her gaze.

“He’ll be there. Don’t worry.” He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close, kissing her. “But we have the rest of today to get settled back in, how about we go get started now?” He kissed down her throat, delighted at the way she laughed. The weekend had been a major shift for her, and by Sunday evening, he couldn’t believe he was seeing more and more signs of the woman he’d been married to for so long. He kept having to remind himself that this wasn’t just over, they would no doubt revisit the issues again and again, but for now, he was happy to see her properly happy.


	19. Chapter 19

Matt called out for Daisy. “Hey, it’s going to start, are you coming?”

“Yes! Give me a second.” She laughed as she sank down beside him on the sofa. “I really wish we would’ve had more time to stay, we should take a real vacation to DC next summer.”

“Yeah, Joanna would love to see the zoo. She could see the pandas in person.”

“Hey, there she is.” Matt pointed at the TV as Elizabeth appeared while the press secretary spoke. “Can you believe it’s only been a couple months?”

Daisy laughed. “Jay texted earlier. He asked if the last few months felt as long to us as it did him. Now _he_ needs a vacation.”

“Should text him back to bring out the family first chance he has. I’ll get passes for a lot tour and he can criticize how I’m getting the character based off him all wrong.”

“I thought that was based of Russell?”

He laughed. “Like I’ll ever admit that!”

She watched him grin. “We should be better friends though, we kind of let everything go after the move.”

Matt nodded; eyes focused on the screen. “We will. It shouldn’t take an assassination to get the family together. And, hey, Nadine mentioned us driving down to meet her family one weekend and you know she’ll hold us to that.”

“Shh! It’s her turn. Hey, there’s Blake in the back!”

“Looking like he hates being on TV, as usual.”

==

She’d skipped the dance class to watch the presidential address. Nadine held her youngest Grandchild in her lap as Elizabeth began to speak and she let her eyes close, just listening to her friend’s voice. She listened as Elizabeth explained the group that had committed the assassination attempt, what had become of them, and then reaffirmed that she, and everyone else, were well and as committed as ever to protecting the foundations of the nation. She could hear in her voice the exact moment when Elizabeth decided to go off script and opened her eyes to watch what would unfold out of a mix of old habit and new intrigue. Her friend never went off script without a reason, though that reason sometimes wasn’t explained until later.

On the screen, Elizabeth was turned away from the cameras, so Nadine couldn’t work out what she might be saying, though her body language told her a bit. Then, looking nervous and put o the spot, Blake stepped forward, slowly to her side. She couldn’t help smiling as the guy she knew preferred to work in the background was introduced to the nation, and likely the world, as the other person who’d been shot and then hailed as the hero who’d saved her life. Even through the TV screen, Nadine could tell he hadn’t anticipated it and she made a note to text him as soon as the address was over.

==

Jay exchanged a look and a wide grin with Henry across the Oval. They’d both been read in twenty minutes before the address by Elizabeth that she wanted to acknowledge Blake for what he’d done, she’d decided he deserved it and knew that if she tried to talk to him about it beforehand, he’d refuse the attention. As the speech finished and the camera crews began packing their things, he checked his phone, finding a message from Russell telling him he’d done a good job. He shot a quick text back and strolled toward Blake, ready to take whatever complaints his friend had. “Good job, man.”

Blake shook his head. “Did you know she was going to do that?”

He shrugged, not able to hide the grin. “Only for a few minutes. But you deserve it.”

“It wasn’t a big deal!”

Jay patted his shoulder. “Blake, not only did you save the president’s life, which is a big deal; you saved our friend’s life. That’s a pretty big deal too. So, you’re double the hero.” He followed as Blake returned to his desk where his phone was buzzing. “Fans?”

Blake checked the screen. “Nadine.” It buzzed again. “And Daisy. And Russell… Good god, I’m going to have to turn it off to get any work done today.”

“No, because you’re not. Not today.” Elizabeth spoke from the doorway between their offices, they hadn’t heard her walk up. “Go home, Blake.”

He shook his head, failing to school his smile. “If you’re here, I’m here, Elizabeth.”

Her smile widened as she looked back into the Oval and then back at them. “I am here, aren’t I?”


End file.
